


Lest it all Become Black

by ShippingsandDeamons



Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Genre: Character Death, black org! Jodei, black org!shinichi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-05
Updated: 2018-06-16
Packaged: 2019-05-02 16:55:12
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 7
Words: 9,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14549181
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShippingsandDeamons/pseuds/ShippingsandDeamons
Summary: Instead of figuring out the man behind the monocle, the black org instead realized there was a connection between the Kaitou in white and a certain Kudo family. 8 years later, a raven dressed in crow feathers enters the hunt, a raven that captures the attention of both parent and child dove. How long with the past say buried 6 feet under, and will a certain trickster manage to free a baron from his black chains?





	1. Vermouth's Children

“Who are you?”

Vermouth raised her head, a stray lock of blond hair feathering her neck. Standing in the bathroom’s entrance was a little girl no older than 6 or seven dressed ready for bed. Her orders hadn’t touched upon what to do with the Starling girl, she’d simply been ordered to kill the couple and set the house on fire to cover her tracks. By the way the girl was eyeing her, she probably suspected her father (whose body was laying in the bathtub) was more than just asleep. And that Vermouth herself was more than just a stranger. She could easily kill the girl and be done with it, she wouldn’t get in any trouble if she did that.

“Who I am is not important. I’m here to give you a choice: sleep or live.” She answered cooly.

Not that she intended to give the girl much choice. She had been a member of the Organization for a long time now, and had quite the body count because of it. Unlike some of her more unsavory coworkers, she didn’t go out of her way to kill, nor did she even like it. She certainly would rather not kill a child if she didn’t have to. So she would let the girl live, even if that meant dragging her into hell. If she simply let the girl go, there was always the possibility she’d become a loose thread to be cut, and thus earn a target on her back. To avoid that, and maybe out of selfish loneliness, she would take the girl with her, whether or not she was willing to come with.

“And what if I chose to sleep?” The girl asked, hesitant.

“Then your choice conflicts with mine,” She replied.

The girl shifted her gaze from Vermouth’s shadow veiled face to her father’s corpse.

“Papa’s not actually asleep, is he.” The girl said. “Mama isn’t either.”

Vermouth wasn’t surprised in the slightest. She knew children were intelligent creatures, knew that fact all too well. The girl shifted her gaze back to her and seemed… resigned. As though she knew Vermouth’s intentions.

“I know you’ve already chosen live, so I’ll choose that too.” The girl said finally.

A part of her was relieved at hearing this. At at least meant she would not have to drag the girl with her against her will. Even if death was the kinder of the two options. 

She walked on over to the girl and lifted her into her arms. She had finished preparation, now all that was left was to set the fire. With the little Starling girl resting on the crook of one arm, she waltzed down the stairs like the actor she was in her civilian life. She’d prepared her ‘detonator’; a match wrapped up with tissue paper against a lightbulb turned on. Soon the heat from the bulb would ignite the match and burn through the tissue paper. The fire would fall to the floor wet with kerosene. Soon the house would be swallowed by flames, leaving no evidence of her involvement.

“So, tell me little girl, what is your name?”

“Jodie, Jodie Starling.”

 

It was bound to happen eventually, she knew it was. Just, it never once occurred to her that Anokata would send her to do the deed. Didn’t he know she had an emotional attachment here? Undoubtedly he did, and that was probably why. This was punishment for one of her past actions.

In the past, the Kudo manor had always struck her as looking more like a haunted home than an actual manor. Now, as she looked at it with her orders in mind, the grim design was fitting. She tugged the hat containing her shoulder-length brunet hair down a little lower. She didn’t want to do this, but didn’t have much choice in the matter; as his favorite you only had so much leeway. She didn’t bother announcing her presence, she simply walked up to the door and picked the lock with skilled ease. Just like with the Sterling family, she had no specific orders pertaining to what to do with the child.

She steeled herself. Yukiko had become a friend to her during their time under Kuroba Toichi’s disguise tutorage. She opened the door, closing it behind her with a quiet click as she entered. The house was quiet, as it only contained three people despite its size normally, but she could hear soft noises coming from the living room. Unlike with Manhattan, Vermouth doubted she could be discreet this time around, the boy would likely be forced to see the death or his parents. At least with the Kudo boy, she had her experience with Manhattan to look at, and the girl herself for help.

She didn’t try to stall for time -- she was too professional for that, but even though she wasn’t procrastinating time still chose to slow. She spied the family sitting on either side of the coffee table; Yusaku was reading as he fondly watched his wife fuss over their son, who was looking none too happy with having his mother’s undivided attention. It made her really smile for a moment, before she stepped back into reality. She readied her silenced gun, and stepped into the living room. All three sets of eyes turned to her as voices cut off abruptly. It took the elder Kudo’s a moment to see through her thin disguise, once it clicked they were on guard. Shinichi, though he didn’t recognize her, seemed to know all on his own that she wasn’t a stranger, nor was she here for a good reason, he pressed himself into his mother’s side as he eyed her with cautious blue eyes.

“I don’t suppose you’re here as a courtesy call?” Yusaku asked, licking his lips.

Any other time the corner of her lips would have twitched into a smirk. He already knew why she was here, at least that made things quicker.

“In a way, I suppose,” She replied. “We’ve noticed you looking into things you shouldn’t, and don’t think your connection to the infamous Kaitou KID has gotten past our radar either.”

Alarm flashed in Yukiko’s eyes as her husband grimaced. Had he expected this to happen?

“Why are you here? To get KID’s identity out of us?” Yukiko demanded.

Vermouth shook her head.

“No, I’m just here to leave him a warning, unfortunately.” The last part was quiet, barely even a soft whisper. The looks of understanding in the elder Kudo’s eyes left a bitter aftertaste in her mouth.

She raised her gun and pulled the trigger. The ‘pop’ of the silencer, while quieter than the actual bang a gun normally made, thundered in her ears as she watched red blossom on Kudo Yusaku’s forehead, watched as he slumped backward, eyes already glassy. Yukiko cried out as her son pressed further against her with a whimper. Then the mother turned to face her with teary eyes.

“What are your orders regarding Shinichi?” She asked.

“Nothing; I was ordered to kill you and Yusaku and make sure anyone could see it was professionally done.” She answered. “There was nothing pertaining to your son.”

Yukiko gave her a watery smile fo relief.

“Alright, take care of him.” She murmured, as though knowing Vermouth had intended to ‘adopt’ him.

With a nod, she readied her gun. Once more she watched blood-red blossom on a person’s skull, this time on the side of Yukiko’s head as she fell forward. Shinichi screamed as he scrambled back from his mother’s corpse, then looked at Vermouth with terror.  
“You have two options boya’,” she told him. “Come with me and live, or die sooner or later.”

Shinichi stared at her, was that disbelief in his eyes?

“You’ve already chosen for me, haven’t you.” It wasn’t a question.

She gave him a tired smirk. The kid was smart, he’d grow into a wonderful member of the organization; deadly as the best of them.

“Smart boy, you're correct. I intend to bring you with me so you can survive.”

Shinichi made no protest as she strode over to him and lifted him up onto one arm. The boy didn’t even cry a little as he slumped up against her chest, head lawling over her shoulder.

 

Kuroba Toichi was a strong man, there wasn’t much that could break his composure and leave him without his poker face. The call from Megure was short, professional, and straight to the point. He felt Chikage’s arms around him as his knees gave out from under him, tears stinging his eyes.

“Love, what’s the matter?” She asked, panic starting to just barely color her voice.

His wife knew him well, knew there was very little that could break him like this. The news would hurt her just as bad.

“The Kudo’s are dead, professionally done. They haven’t found Shinichi’s body yet.” He answered.

He felt Chikage’s arms wrap tighter around him, as she buried her face into his shoulder. She and Yukiko were close friend, to match the odd friend/rivalry that he and Yusaku had between them. They both knew why was behind the killing. The crows didn’t know who Katou KID was, but they knew he had a connection to Kudo Yusaku. This was a warning directed at him.

There was still the question of Shinichi’s fate. If he was dead, his body would have been with his parents’, pointing in the direction the 8-year-old might actually be alive. But then why did the crows take him?

Toichi grimaced, glad his own son Kaito was sleeping like a log, he wasn't sure he’d be able to explain to the boy why his parents were crying.


	2. Night Baron

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Who is this person who calls themself Night Baron?

A man ran down the empty city streets, looking as if he was fleeing for his life. There was no one around to question the man’s terror, the street itself was bare of any life in the night time gloom. The moon was but a figurehead in the night sky, a noble half circle against a blanket of black studded with tiny diamond stars. The fleeing man collapsed into the closest alleyway, chest heaving to supply air to his lungs and protesting muscles. His legs felt like jelly at this point, limp and listless from running since sunset for his life.

He peered around a brick corner, eyes darting all around, looking for something. Or was it a someone? Satisfied with the emptiness around him, the man collapsed into a sitting position with a heave and a sigh. He finally felt safe. Too bad it was a false safety.

Footsteps on the street made the man’s drooping eyelids snap open. He glanced around the corner. A dark figure strolled down the street. Dressed from head to hat in black, they almost seemed to meld in with the shadows. The man felt fear grip his heart. How had they found him so fast? He’d changed jackets often enough they should still be poking around three streets down! He knew his legs would not be able to carry him much farther. His best bet was to stumble behind the dumpster to his right and wait it out.

He didn’t dare try to peek at the black figure as the footsteps drew closer. He just wanted to live- was that too much to ask for? The footsteps came to a halt at the alley's entrance. For several long seconds the man’s heart hammered in his chest so loud in his ears he worried that the figure could hear it. Eventually the footsteps resumed, continuing down the street. He sighed in relief as the footsteps faded, before going quiet entirely. He’d managed to avoid his would be killer for the moment. 

The soft clicking sound of a gun’s hammer brought him back to reality.

A person dressed in all black, except for the white mask covering their face, practically loomed over him, and an unsilenced pistol in one hand, pointed at his head. Panic rose in his throat.

“H-how did you find me?” He stammered.

The person didn’t grace him with a response, they simply shifted their pointer finger to the gun’s trigger.

“P-p-please let me go! I promise I won’t say anything!” He pleaded. “You’ll never hear anything from me ever again, the organization doesn’t need to worry about me-“

The man’s pleas for his life died away and the air crackled with the sound of pistol fire and gunpowder. The man’s body went slack, expression still painted with fear, as blood streamed down his face from the quarter-sized hole in his forehead.

“Excellent Job, Night Baron.” A woman’s voice said with cool poise.

The person turned their masked face to watch as a woman dressed in black emerged from the shadows deeper in the alleyway, her bright yellow curls framing her face and chest.

“You won’t be able to get a break before your next assignment, sorry.” She said remorselessly.

The masked person simply shrugged. “So Vermouth, did you come here just to tell me that?” they asked with an adolescent boy’s voice.

Vermouth quirked her lips.

“No, you’re next assignment’s in Paris, you’ll be helping Snake deal with Kaitou KID.” She explained. “You’re plane leaves at 5 am sharp.”

 

The sound of angry French shouting and cursing made one Kuroba Toichi, or Kaitou KID at the moment, smile. He had the silver chair attached to the large bloodstone – Fortune’s Vice – in his left hand as he ran down the museum's hallways. He’d lost the officers three exhibits behind him and was now making his way to the roof. Moonlight flooded his vision as he burst through the doorway.

He slowed his pace down to a walk and made his way over to the guardrail. Gripping Vice in his right hand, he lifted the gem up to the moonlight. Not even a spark, this one was another failure. Lowering the stone into his breast pocket, he grimaced. Fortune’s vice was not Pandora either, just another name to cross off his list of potential candidates. He’d mail it back to the police in the morning before his flight back to Tokyo.

“Greetings, Kaitou KID.” A deep, gruff voice said none too kindly.

Snake smiled viciously at him, gun raised and the hammer pulled back.

“Same to you as well, Sanke-san.” He replied.

“Hand over Fortune's Vice.” Snake demanded. “Then maybe I’ll let you go.”

Toichi knew for a fact that Sanke wouldn’t just let him walk away even if he did hand the gem over to him. Not that he had any intention of doing so in the first place.

“Unfortunately I’ll have to decline.” Toichi replied smoothly. “I don’t make it a habit of handing my props over to competitors.”

Before Snake could say anything, let alone pull the trigger, Toichi materialized his card gun and fired. The razor-edged 3 of spades hit his hand, forcing the black-clad man to drop his weapon with a hiss. Solo applause came from the shadows, drawing both men’s attention to a figure in black emerging. They were small, either a woman or a teenage boy, dressed in an impeccably cut suite as black as pitch. Their just as fitting black gloves looked to be made of cotton. A black mantle, bluer than the suit, fluttered around them. A black silk hat obscured their true hair color to a soft black The only color on them that wasn’t black was the pressed red dress shirt and the white porcelain mask covering their face. Toichi knew well the character they were mimicking.

“Night Baron, what the hell are you doing here?!” Snake snarled.

The person, Night Baron, ignored the question, instead choosing to keep their focus on him.

“So you are the infamous Kaitou KID I’ve heard so much about.” Baron said, in a teenage boy’s voice. It was close to the same voice his own son had. “It’s a pleasure to finally meet you in person.”

“The pleasure is all mine.” He replied. To what do I owe this meeting to?”

“Simple, I’ve been assigned to help Snake eliminate you, but not tonight.” The boy explained. “Tonight is simply so I can get an understanding of you, it’s one thing to read about you, but it’s another entirely to actually talk to you.”

Toichi narrowed his eyes from behind his poker face. He wasn’t sure what to make of Night Baron, their voice was calm and the mask made it impossible to gauge their expression. One thing was certain, they were an interesting character. Night Baron was a character created by the late Kudo Yusaku, the first and now only book published just after his death 8 years ago. Why would a member of the black organization choose to have that as their code name?

Night Baron lifted a pistol, muzzle leveled with his chest. Unlike with Snake, Night Baron managed to get a few shots in, two hitting his left shoulder and a third hitting his left thigh, before they had to move their hand out of the ace of spade’s trajectory. Toichi pushed himself backward over the railing before Baron could shoot a second time. The last he saw of the boy was of them watching him fly away on his glider before walking away.


	3. Kaiou KID and Apprentice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How different a story, with father and son together, both alive. The raven in Crow's feathers won't be bored.

“So, what do you think of your newest assignment?” Manhattan asked.

“Interesting, Kaitou KID should at the very least keep things from being boring.” Baron replied.

“Hmh,” His surrogate sister replied. “I read in his file that he had some connection to the Kudo writer, they were killed to act as a warning to him.”

He shot the blond woman a sharp glare.

“I was there when it happened, Vermouth told me after we were alone in her car.” He replied coldly.

He knew full well why hi pa- why the Kudos were killed. He’d known for 8 years why Vermouth had been sent to execute them. He’d come to terms with it 8 years ago. He hadn’t once shed more than a single tear for his loss, choosing to bottle the grief up inside and let the raw emotion fule him in each mission.

Both he and Manhattan were the same in that regard. As the children of Vermouth, they had been expected to become as deadly as the woman herself, become just as versatile and tricky. They hadn’t disappointed. Both were at her level of disguise mastery, capable of changing faces and roles as easily as fish swam. Both knew their way around assassination, how to disguise murder as any number of other deaths from suicide to accident. While they did not have the same level of favor from Anokata as their mother did, they were well liked by the boss none the less.

It was no surprise that he would turn to one of them to take care of Kaitou KID. Night Baron would get the job done effectively and without the police knowing it was his hand that had killed the thief.

“I’m heading out, KID’s newest heist'll be in Edoka.” Baron said finally.

 

Kaito sighed as his father mulled over the plans once again.

“Remember son, the roof will be your easiest chance to escape, but if you can’t make it there-“

“Use the fire escape, I know dad.”

Kuroba Toichi was still recovering from the bullet injuries he’d sustained from his last heist, meaning if another heist was to happen, his son would have to play the role of KID. The older magician was apprehensive at best about it. If it was just Snake he would be fine with it, the older man was easy to deal with. But he was almost certain that Night Baron would be there, and the younger assassin was still very much a wild card in his mind.

And something about them was offsetting. Maybe it was the reason they chose to dress as Yusaku’s character while also being a member of the crows. Or maybe it was because of the mask that had kept him from reading the younger boy’s expression.

“Does this new hunter really have you that worried, Dad?” Kaito asked.

“…Kaito, you know about the Kudo’s, right?” Toichi asked.

His son nodded.

“Before he was killed, Yusaku had finished a novel. In it was a character called Night Baron, who the hunter from my last hiest was dressed as almost to a T.” He explained.

Maybe that was it, the reason the adolescent had unnerved him so. Crows weren’t normally named after characters in books, and certainly not thieving characters like Night Baron. The name was important to them somehow, important enough they would go by the name and go so far as to dress as the character.

“Didn’t the Kudo’s also have a boy my age, who was never found?”

Shinichi’s body had never been found, not for a lack of searching. Megure had scowered the entirety of Tokyo and had found nothing.

“Yes, Shinichi would have been around your age.”… “Please, Kaito, be careful.”

“I will dad, I promise.”

 

It was 10 minutes to the start of the heist. Night Baron was currently disguised as a young officer among the KID taskforce. So far Nakamori-keibu and his men had him unimpressed. The man had been chasing the thief whenever he was in Japan for nearly the thief’s entire career, and he was a blundering fool.

Nakamori has the voice of a foghorn, and a set of lungs to keep up. He swore so creatively a sailor would be impressed. Most importantly, the man was very uncreative. Sure the lazors and sensors were nice touches, but KID had proven in the mast they weren’t enough. Or, at least that the man was gullible enough to fall for dummies every time.

He had no worries about the inspector getting in his way, he’d let the man play around in the numerous traps KID had set up already. He wasn’t going to disarm them simply because it meant he wouldn’t have to deal with the cops interrupting his work. He was certain Kaitou KID would use the roof as his means of escape; the windes were just right for a hanglider getaway.

5 minutes now until show time. He was curious as to what KID could have planned for the show, his heists were no different than free to see magic shows and tricks were sparingly done multiple times. Unless those tricks involved smoke bombs and doves among other certain heist staples- like making complete fools ofter of division 2.

Finally the allotted time came. Under the guize of smoke and Darkness, Kid appeared on the display case with his usual “Ladies and Gentlemen” for all to hear. The fans outside were screaming. Baron raised an eyebrow. This was not the same person he had shot at earlier, the person was too young. At first he assumed they were an imposter, nothing more than a copycat.

His mind quickly scrapped that idea as “KID” lead the task force around on a chase, controlling them like a puppeteer. This person was clearly well adversed in the ways of magic, executing ticks and the like with a pro’s skill. They weren't an imposter, the suite was as close to the same one he’d seen on the original KID as could be, even if it hung off a much smaller and narrower frame. Copycat was a no, so maybe this KID was an apprentice? He knew KID at least had an assistant, so an apprentice wasn't out of the question.

He began his pursuit of KID as soon as the thief in white had acquired the sapphire and was making his escape. He stepped over stip wires and danced around triggers as he followed close at KID’s heels. If the thief realized he was more then just a cop, he was well versed in keeping such things out of his posture and body language.

Finally the two made it to the roof.

“Impressive, Cop-san, not many gan say they’ve kept up with me like that.” KID said, leaning against the railing.

“I can say the same, Apprentice-san.” He replied.

KID went rigid for a moment, though his poker face held firm. If he wasn’t as trained in observation as he was, he would have undoubtedly missed the change.

“Did you really think no one would notice? How Nakamori missed the obvious age and body difference is beyond me- you didn’t even bother to have a mustache on.” He continued.

“And what makes you say I’m an apprentice? KID does have an assistant.” The thief pointed out.

“True, but the assistant is taller than you, and you have obviously spent most of your life training in magic, giving yourself a level of skill an assistant would not have.” Baron explained.

“My, my, what sharp eyes you have, officer-san, or should I call you Night Baron?” KID asked.

It was Baron’s turn to be put under the spotlight.

“I knew you weren’t a cop, you stay mostly to the side unlike the other task force members, and I happen to know what every officer in division two looks like, you’re a new face.” KID explained.

“Good eye, KID, I’m pleasantly impressed.” Barion said. “Now then, let’s see what the apprentice has learned from his master.”

Without Snake present, he allowed himself to become more unbound than he normally was. It felt like they were dancing, the two ducking and rolling from cards and bullets. He found that KID’s aim was just as good as his own, meaning that if he wasn't as good as dodging bullets as he’d been trained by Vermouth and Gin to be, he would have earned himself several cuts early on. KID showed an equal level of agility as his own, dancing out of the way of bullets with the same skill as his own.

When things came to a close by the sound of thundering feet, he watched KID dive over the railing and open the wings of his glider before flying off.

“Master and apprentice, this assignment really will be interesting.”

When they reached the roof, Nakamori and his men found signs of a fight in the form of KID’s cards and bullet holes littering the concrete, but no sign of either party could be found.


	4. A Raven's Arrival

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A new student arrives, who just so happens to look nearly like Kait's twin brother. Why does Akako not like him? And why did he have to be a holms fan too?! (one was bad enough!)

Kaitou felt his thoughts wander back to the assassin from last night. Night Baron was impressive, whoever they were they had a mastery over disguise at least at his own level, and he was pretty darn close to his dad’s level! He was almost certain Baron was close to his own age, it was they the other had moved subconsciously, even young adults rarely moved that that level of energetic vigor.

“He or she was very skilled… they probably lived their entire life among the organization.” He mused.

Before he could tap that vein any further, Akako walked up behind him and placed her hands on his desk.

“Be very wary, young dove, for a raven dressed in the feathers of his fellow crows had appeared. This demon of buried light is not to be taken lightly, but also know this, there is more to this masterful raven than blood and death. Evey life story start’s with a child.”

Before he could say anything to the red witch, she left him alone and made her way back to her desk. She’d given him prophecies like that before, either to help him or his father. Both Kuroba men were so far the only ones alive to be capable of resisting his charm enchantments, at first it had made her furious and blood-thirsty. Now she was just curious (and a damn well liked ally, but Kaitou would never admit that aloud).

“Hakuba-kun, I heard from my dad that KID had a fight with someone last night at the heist,” Aoko said. “Do you know anything about it?”

Kaito perked up. He hadn’t checked yet to see what the police had figured out about the scrape between him and Night Baron. They probably knew next to nothing, but he was still curious to see what they knew.

“Probably no more than your father knows, Nakamori-san.” Hakuba replied. “All I know is that before we arrived, KID had a shoot-out with an unknown third party. We also know that one of the officers present disappeared after the heist.”

It was stuff he already knew. His father had been concerned to hear about Night Baron realizing he wasn't the same KID. His father didn’t want him getting hurt after all. He snorted. Like hell he was going to underestimate one of the crows! He wouldn’t get sloppy, it would be a disrespect to the wonderful critic Night Baron was shaping up to be. It would be a disservice to underestimate such a challenge.

He caught Hakuba giving him a look. While the brit hadn’t outright said anything, he knew the younger Hakuba suspected his father’s involvement with KID. And probably suspected his own involvement after last night. But there never was any evidence to pin down a suspect, so all was good.

“Alright class, sit down!” Their homeroom teacher said. “A new student has just transferred to our class, please be welcoming!”

On cue, the door opened and a boy in their school uniform walked up to the Teacher’s desk. Kaito almost fell out of his chair when he saw the boy’s face. The rest of the class erupted into whispers.

“Greeting, I am Edogawa Conan, pleased to make your acquaintance.” The transfer student said with a warm smile.

This new student, Edogawa Conan, looked almost exactly like one Kuroba Kaito. Conan's hair was darker, closer to black, and far neater than Kaito’s bird’s nest of hair. Even the small cowlick sticking up in the back of his head was neat and tidy (and completely adorable). His eyes were bluer, closer to cerulian that Kaito’s more indigo irises. There were also some minor differences in their facial features, like Conan’s fuller lips and paler skin tone, but it was still very much like looking at a mirror.

Conan seemed to realize this when his eyes fell on Kaito. The boy’s soft lips twitched up in a small, hidden smirk.

Most of the class was balking, the prospect of two Kurobas was a terrifying thought. Akako was acting wared. She was glaring at the Edogawa boy carefully, clearly displeased with the boy in some way. Aoko seemed like the only person genuinely happy to see Conan. 

“Now then, there’s an open spot over in front of Kuroba-kun, you can sit there.” Their teacher said.

Conan gave her a polite nod and made his way past rows of desks over to the one in front of him. Up close he could see the athletic build of the boy, even from underneath the slightly loose material of his uniform. This was shaping up to be an interesting day.

 

By the time the brake had rolled around, it became clear to everyone that Coan was very different in personality than Kaito, despite their similar faces. Kaito had done his usual prank fest while Conan simply watched the teacher. He’d even have fast enough reflexes to turn some of Kaito’s pranks back at him, even if they missed. He was also very polite, and about as smark as Kaito was.

Once the bell rang, signaling free time, a crowd had gathered around the boy.

“I transferred to Ekoda high because my family’s moving to America for work, but I want to stay in Japan to finish my formal education.” The boy explained.

“Kaito, listen well!” Akako hissed in his ear. He almost jumped when he realized the witch had gotten so close, she’d been sitting at her desk when he’d last seen her. “Do not let your guard down around Edogawa until you have freed the trapped raven,” She said, then left.

He looked at the girl, then back at Conan. Akako never gave a warning without a reason, and her predictions were never wrong. If Akako said to be careful around him, then he would listen.

“Edogawa-kun, Aoko has a very important question to ask you!” Aoko said. “What is your opinion on Kaitou KID?”

He knew the question was coming.

“I’m not that interested in thieves, my specialty is homicide.” Conan replied.

“Oh? You’re a detective as well?” Hakuba asked. “Are you regularly called to help solve cases?”

Conan nodded. “Though it’s more I’m calling the police to let them know I’ve stumbled across the nth body of the month. Murder just seems to happen while I’m around.”

Kaito grimaced. He had only had to see a murder victim once, and that was because he’d somehow been handcuffed to Hakuba and the blond had been called to help out Division 2. He never wanted to take part in a murder investigation again. From the sounds of it, Conan regularly ran into murders, and probably had seen some of the worst humanity had to offer. How was he still so chipper.

“It’s not so bad though, I get to feel like a real-life modern-day Sherlock Holmes.” Conan said.

“You like Holms as well?”

Kaito stifled a groan as Kakuba and Conan delved into a full-on discussion about the fictional detective. He’d read the books, and found them interesting, but her much preferred the Arsen Lupin books. That and Hakuba was an utter fanboy of Doyal’s work, he even dressed up as the fictional detective while solving cases! At least it wasn’t him who had to suffer. Just, why did they halve to gush so close to him?


	5. Night Baron's observation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sort of the last chapter from Conan's perspective.

The name Kuroba was one he was familiar with in a vague sense. His parents had tossed it around a few times when talking with each other. Night Baron found the similarity in their looks to be amusing in an ironic sense; they practically looked like the same person. But were about as different as total black and total white. Still, it could potentially be useful to find out more about the junior Kuroba, in case he needed a maskless disguise of some sort.

It was times like this Baron was glad he was both a master of the poker face and a mast of disguise. School was boring, plain and simple, especially since he already knew the material. He wasn’t paying especially close attention, enough to know what was going on if he was to be called upon by the teacher. Hiding behind a mask of attentivity, the ‘black’ assassin allowed his thoughts to wander. This new revelation about Kaitou KID was interesting. Both the thief and his apprentice were intriguing characters, and a challeng as well. Killing them would be no small feat, he would have to call upon any and every skill at his disposal.

For now, though, he would wait and settle himself into a civilian persona. Manhattan hadn’t stopped laughing when she’d heard what he had chosen to be his aliases. Apparently combining the names of his second and third favorite authors (the first would always be his late father, just as his favoret actress would be his mother) to come up with the name Edogawa Conan was funny to her in some way. Vermouth had also smirked in that annoying way where you knew she was laughing at you, you just knew it, but never showed it. Why did the women in his life have to be so crazy?

When the break rolled around, his fellow students had become climatized to him. He now understood why they had looked so scared of him, even though he was putting on his best face. Kuroba Kaito was a master prankster who used his skills in magic to pull outrageous, but safe stunts no matter what the time was. It was his training ingrained reflexes and sharp observation skills that saved him from being a victim of Kuroba’s jokes like the rest of the class. The worst Kuroba did was bruise or completely shatter one’s ego and dignity, but like KID he held true to an iron rule of, no one gets hurt’.

As Conan, he was accustomed to being the center of attention. The alias wasn't a new one, the name was one he regularly used when he wasn’t taking out targets and felt like working with the law for a change. He watched the red-headed girl with the hime cut waltzed on over to Kuroba and hiss something in his ear, freaking the magician out before walking back to her seat. Koizumi Akako, he was the bell of the ball in this class, had almost all the boys in thie class (and maybe the entire school) wrapped around her finger like some sort of fairy tale witch or enchantress. For some reason she didn’t like him, which was odd because there was no way she could know Edogawa Conan and Night Baron were the same person. She hadn’t confronted him or otherwise stated she dislike him, but she made it quite clear she didn’t want to be around him. He would have to keep an eye on her.

“Edogawa-kun, Aoko has a very important question to ask you!” one Nakamori Aoko said. “What is your opinion on Kaitou KID?”

He blinked at her. He was well aware of who her father, Nakamori Ginzo, was, he was the head of the Kaitou KID task force in Japan. For what he’d heard about his only daughter, she had the same vigorous morality as her father. He was pretty certain she was anti-KID (she attended many of his Japan heists wielding an anti-KID sign), so why was she bringing the thief up?

“I’m not that interested in thieves, my specialty is homicide.” He answered.

It was the truth. As Conan he rarely ever dealt with thieves alone, and then they were usually petty purse snatchers at worst. Because of his terrible luck, or death luck as Manhattan had dubbed it, he was constantly running across death and murder when he wasn’t actively killing people. It was the reason he’d bothered with having his Edogawa persona in the first place, because even now his detective instinct persisted like weeds.

“Oh? You’re a detective as well?” Hakuba Saguru asked. “Are you regularly called to help solve cases?”

Hakuba Saguru, a half British half Japanese high school detective and the sone of superintendant Hakuba. The boy had lived in England most of his life with his mother, where he had made a name for himself, focusing on mostly murder like himself. The boy had skill, he gave him that much, and while he had yet to put an innocent man behind bars yet, he was too cocky. He always went with his first deduction, pursuing it as if it was the truth. On a few occasions he’d seen his error and changed his culprit before giving his deductions publicly, but eventually his rigid tunnel vision when pursuing the truth would be his downfall and cause him to make a mistake.

This class was full of interesting character. It was a good thing he’d been assigned to this class.

 

Night Baron already knew that Hakuba-kun was a Holmes fan. He was a white sheep in a flock of black in that regard, no one else in the organization liked detective novels as much as he did, except maybe Manhattan. Because it was so rare to get to talk with another fan about the books, he practically latched on to this chance. He could see the displeasure in Kuroba’s face when the two began down their rabbit hole. The magician had probably been roped into a conversation centering around the fictional detective a few times already. He’d probably be able to get on Kuroba’s good side by mentioning Arsen Lupin, he had a feeling the boy was a fan of those books. And it just so happened that he liked them as well.


	6. Curious Thoughts

This was a bad idea. Not because it meant he would be stuck with two sharp-minded detectives that required him to be careful about what he said. No, it was because those two teen detective just happened to also be Holmes fanboys. So far he only had Hakuba’s blatant obsession with the fictional detective to go off of, he knew Conan wasn't going to be the same, still… Why did he let himself get talked into this again?

The 4 found themselves situated at a local café, Aoko mentioned they’d just recently opened up shop. So far everything was fine, they were currently browsing through the menus, well, except for Conan. The transfer student seemed to already know what he wanted. He was browsing through his one, a simple gray and red thing with a soccer ball phone strap. In all, it looked really plain.

“Edogawa-kun, what are you planning on getting?” Aoko asked.

“Coffee, the blackest they have.” The boy replied.

“And lemon pie.” He added as an afterthought.

Conan seemed almost bored. Some fore fiddling with his phone and the boy’s left eyebrow twitched.

“Che, I’d like to see you even try to do the same.” He muttered under his breath.

“Something wrong, Edogawa-kun?” Hakuba inquired.

“Just my sister being her evil self. She’s older than me and knows how to annoy me.” He replied offhandedly. Then he closed his phone and stuffed it into his pocket.

A waitress appeared at their table, notepad in hand.

“Does everyone know what they want?” She asked.

“Un, I’ll have that orange blossom tea you were advertising outside. And a slice of strawberry shortcake.” Aoko said.

“I want a mocha and slice of your triple deluxe chocolate cake.” Kaito said.

“I will have a cup of jasmine tea and apple pie.” Hakuba said.

“I want a cup of the blackest coffee you have, and a slice of lemon pie is you have any.” Conan said.

The woman nodded, pen scratching against paper as she wrote down everyone’s orders.

“I’ll be back with your orders.” She said, moving on.

Aoko opened her mouth to say something, but was cut mute when someone screamed. Kaito, Aoko, and Hakuba all jumped in surprise, Conan sighed. He got up abruptly, offered them all a strained smile, and marched on over to the source of the disturbance. Like a soldier on a battlefield. Hakuba got up and ran over to join him. Kaito gave Aoko a look. The younger Nakamori gave him a nod. Together the pair joined their classmates.

A woman lay on the ground, hands at her throat, chair toppled over, face twisted into a pained expression of terror, her mouth open wide. Conan withdrew his fingers from her neck, looking at them he shook his head. Another woman sobbed, falling to her knees and pressing her face into her hands. Conan placed a gentle hand on her shoulders.

“Someone go call the police, an ambulance won’t be needed.” He murmured.

One of the waitresses nodded and bolted off, probably to go find a phone. 

With the help of Hakuba, he guided the greaving woman to an empty chair before questioning her.

“She was sitting at the same table as the victim, we suspect a close friendship of some kind.” Hakuba explained.

Watching Conan work was different from watching Hakuba work. Both were methodical to a point, but Conan seemed to get lost in his head often, taking in bits of conversation from everyone and processing it. The two seemed to work well together, at least. He’d heard Hakuba ran on about some Hattori character who’s detective habits had driven in up the wall. He’d laughed and asked to meet the guy the next time he was in town. Any annoyance of Hakuba’s was an ally of his. 

Another thing was Conan was well acquainted with Tokyo’s homicide division. When the inspector had seen him present, he’d given the boy a deadpanned greeting. One of the officers even mentioned something about a bet on whether their Christmas present to the boy would be another exorcism or a box of charms. Even Hakuba had raised an eyebrow.

“Kaito, you’re a jack of all trades, correct?” Conan inquired.

“I prefer to call myself a well-prepared magician, but effectively yes, I’m a jack of all trades.” Kaito answered. “What do you need?”

“A second opinion on something I’m hesitant to bring up with Hakuba.” He replied. “I also need help replicating the crime, but I can ask the police for that.”

 

Conan felt no shred of sympathy for the killer as he was carted off. Maybe it was hypocritical of him, he was no better than the man he’d just landed in jail after all. But taking a life out of simple jealousy, it was disgusting really. He’d been married to the woman for almost a decade, hadn’t once realized her feeling for him were entirely platonic. So what of she’d been pitching for the other team? She’d eventually told him the truth, let him divorce her, and hadn’t tried to weasel him of any of his money. And yet none of that mattered in the end, he still poisoned her coffee, still forced her girlfriend to watch her die violently, all because he was upset the woman he loved was a lesbian.

At least his own role as an assassin meant he didn’t kill of his own volition. 

“Kaito! Are you alright?”

Kuroba Toichi. Conan hadn’t been expecting to meet the man just yet. He knew who the man was, one of the most famous magicians of this century. He was also a suspect for Kaitou KID, and potentially the reason his parents were dead. Currently he was fussing over his son, playing the role of the loving father. No, not playing. Playing implied it was all an act, and what he was was no act. The elder Kuroba truly loved his son.

The older man’s eyes darkened a little when his eyes fell upon him. Not out of anger, but of sadness.

“And who are you?” He asked politely.

“Conan Edogawa, I just transferred to your son’s class this morning.” He answered just as politely.

There was a pain deep in the man’s eyes. What was he seeing when h looked at him? Did he suspect him? The thought was sharp and icy, and for a moment he really believed that Kuroba Toichi knew he was Night Baron.

“You… look a lot like the son of a friend of mine, how he would look his he was Kaito’s age.” Toichi said. “I’m sorry if my staring was unnerving.”

“Oh, who’s son do I look like?” It was an innocent question that anyone could ask.

“Kudo, you look like how Kudo Shinichi might look as a 16-year-old.”

Conan winced behind his mask.

“I was the disguise teacher of Kudo Yukiko, after she married Yusaku and I developed a friendly rivalry of sorts. We were good friends.”

Friends, that explained why the name was tossed around so often, and he mom was probably also close friends with Toichi’s wife. If Toichi was in fact Kaitou KID, there was no way his father didn’t at least suspect the truth. His parents might have willingly sacrificed their lives for their closest friends. And now he might have to kill those close friends.

Life sucked.


	7. Training a Spider

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Spider finally arrives.

KID only targeted pandora candidates around, if not during, the full moon. Any other time, and KID stole various thing, sometimes to expose frauds and fakes, other times simply because he wished to make a fool fo the police. That last one was just speculation, but given all the hijinks KID had pulled over the years just to frustrate police, it was probably close to the truth.

This is how Night Baron found himself working with a disgruntled Snake and the dark magician Spider, or known as Gunter Von Goldberg to the public. Snake he could understand, the man was his aid in removing KID was the equation and had been hunting the thief for a long time now. Why they needed spider was still to be determined. The man had already pissed him off and he was not looking forward to working with him further.

“I was not expecting the fabled Night Baron to be so… young. I will keep that in mind when planning my illusion.”

Snake disregarding him was one thing, the man was proud to a fault and hated having to take orders from anyone other than the boss. But he respected the teen assassin, knew that he’s lost much of his childhood in becoming one of the organization's most dangerous members. Snake might not have been particularly bright, but he was smart enough to know when not to talk back to his superior. If Spider was going to work with him, well he would have to correct the magician’s behavior now, nip the bud so to speak.

 

Tonight’s target was an obscure painting that had been unearthed from a museum's storage recently. No one knew where the painting had come from, or who the creator was. But it was a lovely piece, and they at least knew its name. A note on the canvas shroud covering it had informed people the painting was titled ‘flight at dawn’. The curator had voted in favor of showing the unknown piece.

Kaito blended in with the ground, dressed as a none descript teen who liked looking at art. His character had glanced at the painting a few times, but had taken more interest in the pottery and textiles, a good way to throw off the crows’ suspicions. Except for Night Baron’s. If he was around, he probably could feel his presence. Behind his poker face, the substatute Kaitou grinned. While this would not be his last heist, it would be the last time he played KID for a while. Maybe he could challenge the crow on his own without being KID? Baron knew he was KID’s apprentice after all.

The allotted time was 5 minutes after midnight, and the time now was close to 8. Almost closing time. He'd gotten a feel for the layout of the room, and had spent a long enough time in the museum as a whole to get a feel for its layout as well without doing anything to arouse suspicion. He fished out his phone as he exited the building and dialed his dad’s number.

“Hey Dad, just calling to let you know I’m coming home from the museum, I should be home soon.”

“Alright, I’ll let your mother know she can start on dinner.”

“See ya’ then.”

To anyone observing, it was just a considerate son calling home to let his parents know he was on his way home. Nothing unusual there. And even if on the incredibly unlikely chance someone was listing into the entire conversation, his father had said nothing unusual or suspicious. Halfway towards home, he swapped out of his disguise. He and his father would spend the rest of the evening fine-tuning the plan to perfection.

Tonight would be a grand show. As a Kuroba he would make sure that came true.

 

It was midnight at the moment, 5 minutes from show time. Hopefully everyone was in their places. Night Baron wasn’t sure what Spider was planning, but he made sure to have back up plans for most anything he thought the other assassin could come up with. It was a good thing part of his training included becoming resistant to illusions like the ones Spider used to kill. Not that he’d ever say it to Vermouth, he’d rather shoot himself in the head than do that.

“Snake, I trust you’ve found an ideal place to snipe at KID?” He asked into his earpiece.

The man grunted in response. “Yeah, it’s within 400 feet of the place, just as you specified.”

Snake was a decent sniper, he was able to hit the target at a distance of 500 feet or less, close in skill with Chianti and Korn. He might not have been good as Night Baron himself, or Gin, but he was still a decent shot. Now if he aimed for the head like he was supposed to, and night for the heart like he usually did, then they would have a shot at terminating KID, or his apprentice if the elder thief was still out of commission.

“Do you know what Spider’s up to? He hasn’t contacted me yet.” He asked.

“No.”

He sighed. It was worth a shot, but he hadn’t bothered to get his hopes up.

“Spider, are you in position?”

The man didn’t respond. If he wasn’t already wearing a porcelain mask at the moment, he would be pinching the bridge of his nose at the moment.

“I couldn’t care less if he’s used to working solo, I am too. That doesn’t mean I don’t play my part in a group.” He thought.

When all was said and done, he’d make sure to grind respect into the man. Even if he had to get particularly forceful with him.

The chase began as it normally did; with KID (the apprentice again) pulling some sort of trick to get up close and make it seem like he’d made off with the painting. Hakuba was present this time. And unlike Nakamori and his men, did not fall for the trick like they did. 

KID’s sleeping gas nocked the blond right out. It was a good thing he had a mask on, he didn’t feel like taking a nap so soon. But that did mean he’d have to be careful in the future, it wouldn’t do get knocked out while in disguise. Then they’d know Edogawa Conan and Night Baron were the same person. That would threaten his last shred of humanity, something he wanted to hold on to for a long as he could.

“Knight Baron-san, how nice of you to join me.” Apprentice KID greeted.

“Nice isn’t a word I’d use, Apprentice-kun, but if you insist.” He replied with a small shrug.

Movement in the corner of his eye had him turning his head to see Spider emerging from the shadows.

“Spider, where have you been?” He demanded. “You didn’t contact me like you were supposed to.”

“I apologize, Night Baron-kun, but I had matters to attend to that ate up all my time, leaving me unable to contact you beforehand.” Spider answered with a cool smile, as if he wasn’t walking a fine line.

He would have to take the man down several notches after this, his pride was worse than Snake’s. 

“And who are you? A friend of Night Baron’s?” KID asked.

“In a way, perhaps, but that is of no concern to you, boy.” Spider replied.

He watched the large mechanical spider descend on its golden threads, its eyes glowing the same bloody red the lights on Spider’s visor were. The assassin was fast, before KID had a chance to act, he was already caught up in whatever illusion had been prepared for him. Spider nodded at him, signaling he would leave the actual killing to him. A mission meant not letting your emotions get in the way of getting the job done. He had no reason not to, so he took the offered chance.

Glowering at the man, he raised a hand to signal to Snake to shoot. Before he lowered his hand, something large his the ground with a thud. The strings holding Spider’s toy up had been cut, sending it falling onto the rooftop. KID snapped out of the illusion just in time for his master to touch down on the roof. Several rooftops away, Snake finally began shooting. Several bullets clipped the edges and corners of the roof, but given how slippery both KIDs were, none actually hit. Baron began firing at the pair himself Several off his bullets clipped the bulletproof vests the pair wore, but didn’t do much else.

He watched as the pair glided off before turning to Spider. The man’s poker face was impressive, but he could easily see the cracking edges as he stalked towards the man. He pocketed his gun and withdrew a small combat knife. It was time to teach the man a bit of humility. If Snake was watching them, he wisely was keeping silent.

“I knew from the moment you spoke to me, something like this was going to happen.” He said. “But I had to let events unfold as they pleased before I could act, just to make sure.”

Despite being shorter than Spider, he was still an imposing and overbearing figure as he pressed himself in front of the man with just an inch between them, toying with the knife in his hands.

“Are you going to explain, or should I take a guess?”

“What is there to explain, boy? The master came to keep his student safe.” Spider replied, no longer quite as composed. He added some emphasis to ‘boy’, just enough to make it stand out.

The message was clear. With a sigh to silent for Spider to hear. He slashed his knife across Spider’s exposed cheek just enough to open a shallow cut, barely more than a scratch. Only a single, tiny bead of blood welled from the wound.

“I might be young, but Vermouth trained me to be the best,” He said, glaring down at Spider. “That means working with others, I don’t care if you prefer solo work, that does not excuse poor teamwork.”

He slashed at Spider two more times, opened two more shallow cuts, on his arm and another on his collar.

“Next time you will listen, and follow my orders.”

To drive in his point, he shoved the knife into Spider’s side, just below the ribs. He avoided anything important, but the wound would still hurt. Yanking the knife free of its fleshy sheath, he placed a handkerchief over it to stop any blood from dribbling onto the ground. He might be annoyed with the man, but he was trained not to leave evidence under most circumstances.

**Author's Note:**

> Manhattan (cocktail) is Jodie's codename, because it's made using the alcohol vermouth (because Jodie is pointed out to have a somewhat resemblance to Vermouth in canon). Shinichi's is Night Baron, as a way to remember his family.


End file.
